VineRoutes releases its inaugural “special report” on the wines of Prince Edward County, Ontario
“This wine report on Prince Edward County is a sincere, deep and professional testimony to what I tasted and experienced.” – Carmelo Giardina
Online wine magazine VineRoutes.com has released its 2020 Prince Edward County wine report, written by the website’s editorial director and founder Carmelo Giardina.
This inaugural report, which is only available to VineRoutes newsletter subscribers, is a comprehensive “mini-report” based on a September visit to the County that saw Giardina visit 13 different wineries over a three-day period. In total, about 80 wines were tasted, with 66 qualifying for this report.
Giardina said: “I first visited Prince Edward County in 2017 and only visited well-established wineries that had been around for more than a decade. This time I was afforded the opportunity to also visit newer wineries and those that are making some truly experimental, low intervention-style wines, all of which made the experience much more educational.”
Click to view our Special Report on Prince Edward County
“I couldn’t help but notice – perhaps much more so than my 2017 visit – that most of the wines I tasted expressed its terroir with precision, grace and beauty. Acidity and minerality are the County’s most identifiable characteristics when it comes to wine, and it’s great to see that many producers are harnessing this terroir expressive quality with such precision and focus.”
Giardina has special praise for the ever-increasing roster of great pinot noir and chardonnays that Prince Edward County has to offer – two of the area’s most revered varietals.
“The County’s rich limestone soil composition – a major reason why this place is always compared to Burgundy – truly benefits chardonnay and pinot noir in such a great way. It’s no surprise that almost half of all the wines I tasted were made up of these two varietals.”
“…Most of the wines I tasted expressed its terroir with precision, grace and beauty.”
Giardina visited renowned and well-established producers such as Closson Chase Vineyards, Rosehall Run, The Grange of Prince Edward and Karlo Estates, meeting and chatting with owners and winemakers, walking the vineyards, really getting a sense of how the region is evolving. Relatively newer wineries were also visited, including Exultet Estates, Trail Estate Winery, Traynor Family Vineyard and Morandin Wines.
He said: “No one can properly visit and sample everything unless they plan on spending a good couple weeks in what is the second largest (and fastest growing) wine-producing region in Ontario. But I would wager that I tasted a greater number of wines than most other writers/critics would in a two-and-a-half-day swoop.”
In addition to including each wine’s QPR rating (the minimal score to qualify for this report is 86/100), Giardina also points out each visited winery’s average QPR score based on the number of wines sampled from each place, noting which are producing excellent wines on average vs. very good or just simply good. He also includes a breakdown of how each different varietal scored on average.
“The report is a sincere, deep and professional testimony to what I tasted and experienced,” said Giardina. “I really did have a lot of fun preparing it.”
To access the Prince Edward County special wine report, one must be a VineRoutes.com newsletter subscriber. If you are not already registered, you can by clicking the link here. A password will be sent out with a welcome email that will grant access to anyone who wishes to review the report for the foreseeable future.
Access the 2020 Prince Edward County Report by visiting www.vineroutes.com.
About Carmelo Giardina
Carmelo Giardina is a former journalism graduate and now marketing and PR professional who has worked with clients such as Rockstar Energy Drink, Coca-Cola, White Claw and Miller-Coors. Carmelo began writing about wine as a freelance writer for luxury lifestyle publication West of the City Magazine in 2017 and is now the founder and editorial director at vineroutes.com, a website helping wine lovers navigate the world of wine. Writing has always been a passion of his, and being given the opportunity to write about another passion (wine) has been a fulfilling exercise. A variety of publications spread across Canada now feature his writings on wine and spirits.
About VineRoutes:
Stories about wine, the people who make it and the places it comes from. VineRoutes is an Ontario, Canada based platform that intends to provide insight not just on Canada’s wine regions, but on a variety of regions around the world. With a story behind every bottle, every label, every vintage and every winemaker, VineRoutes aims to share some of these stories with you. Visit www.vineroutes.com for more information.
Media Contacts:
Carmelo Giardina, Editorial Director
email: editorial@vineroutes.com
Paula Henriques, Managing Editor, Marketing Director
email: paula@psmediahouse.com
